1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a manually operated dispensing device for balancing weights, preferably for balancing weights for vehicle wheels.
2. Description of Relevant Art
Self-adhesive balancing weights having a weight body, comprising a mass material and a self-adhesive tape for attaching the balancing weight to a rim are disclosed in EP 1 355 084 A1 and in EP 1 039 169 A1. The balancing weights are delivered in boxes, each box containing a plurality of balancing weights. The balancing weight bodies have segments, which allow cutting off or breaking off pieces of the balancing weight body, therefore reducing or modifying the mass of the balancing weight according to the required mass. These balancing weights allow simple handling and storage, although the disadvantage is that a significant amount of the mass material is wasted. If, for example, the total of mass of the balancing weight body is 60 grams, and only 25 grams are needed for balancing, then 35 grams are wasted.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,931,342 B2 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,547,338 B2 disclose adhesive wheel weight dispensing apparatus, where a cutting member is movable by a pneumatic cylinder and balancing weights. They are fed by balancing weights on a reel. There, a large number of individual balancing weights are attached to a common self-adhesive tape. This common self-adhesive tape holds the individual balancing weights together and forms a belt of balancing weights, which is cut into smaller pieces by automated cutting and handling devices. The smaller pieces of balancing weights are individually cut according to the requirements for each vehicle wheel, during the balancing process of the wheel. Therefore, such automated balancing weight dispensing machines are preferably used in automated balancing weight devices, which are often used at car or tire manufacturers. EP 1 253 414 A2 discloses a further automated dispenser with a pneumatically operated cutter.
A small tire workshop cannot afford a high performance automated balancing weight dispensing machine as described before. These machines are too expensive and require a significant amount of maintenance.